Ryuu sweated as he barely managed to avoid another flurry of slashes by jumping out of range, adding to his speed by creating a vacuum blade that led the way. After the woman stopped talking and started fighting he hadn't been able to do much else but try to get some room, something she wasn't making easy on him. Kodachi had lashed out with her ribbon a couple of times, yet none of her attacks had managed to pierce through Kiima's defenses. Thankfully for his wife he was the focus of attention right now, so Kodachi had all the time in the world to prepare her attacks and wasn't jumping around frantically trying to stay alive.

Kiima remained expressionless as she attacked, all the while testing her opponent and unconsciously blocking Kodachi's attempts at cutting her head off. In her rage she knew it was the man that killed her husband, so it was only logical that he should die first and join him. It was only a matter of time, from what she'd seen so far, for even if he was fast and very skilled he appeared to be lacking in the endurance department. They'd only been fighting for a couple of minutes and already he was starting to sweat.

Makoto stared at the silver-haired woman in shock, unable to follow each and every one of her moves with her eyes. She'd never seen someone move that fast before, nor that gracefully...

I need to get some breathing room! Ryuu thought frantically as he felt a sharp pain on his left shoulder. He could tell it wasn't a deep wound, if only by how he could still move his arm, but he was still on the defensive and if things continued as they were more and more attacks would get through his defenses. What he needed was enough time to charge an attack and get rid of this crazy woman. Further thought was interrupted by shock and pain.

Kiima's eyes glinted at the sight of first blood and she burst into Ryuu's defenses with a kick that caught him completely off-guard. So far she'd limited herself to attacking with her sword, but the sudden change in tactics surprised the man enough that the attack slipped by. The sound of cracking bone and a shout of pain were music to her ears as he was sent flying back.

"RYUU-SAMA!" Kodachi cried in horror and lashed at Kiima with her ribbon once again. She was to be denied, however. Since this time Kiima wasn't focused on attacking she easily dealt with the attack. Kodachi was left with only half a ribbon, the rest of it fluttering to the ground harmlessly. "HOW DARE YOU!" The black-haired woman demanded angrily.

Kiima turned to Kodachi fully, seemingly ignoring Ryuu even if she kept him within her field of vision. "I couldn't allow his filthy blood to mix with my husband's own."

Makoto froze when she heard that and looked down to Kiima's feet. Sure enough she was standing on bloodied grass. It was then she realized just how outclassed her uncle Ryuu was. The fight appeared to be on Kiima's side from the beginning, even then she thought he could turn the tables with his techniques, but then the silver-haired woman proved just how untrue that was. She had such control over the fight that she didn't allow Ryuu to bleed over the same ground Ranma did, sending him flying away with that devastating kick. The girl then turned to Ryuu and gulped. Even if he was holding his chest with his left arm, which was now covered in blood, the look on his face was easy to read. He wasn't going down that easily; especially not after hearing that latest insult directed his way.

Ryuu and Kodachi were about to resume their attack, this time with the man having time to prepare a decent offense, when someone else arrived that would only help make matters worse. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!" The man's bellow demanded an answer.

"Daddy!" Makoto cried.

Kuno Tatewaki had just arrived...

---

Ukyo smiled from behind the grill as she saw Karmine dozing off. The girl so obviously needed to rest, yet was adamant about training with her father as soon as he got back. All she could do was shake her head and smile further. At first glance she appeared to be so different to Ranma, yet where it mattered she was so much like him. It was also heart-warming to see how much Karmine tried to hide her feelings for her parents, an attempt to appear mature and detached, and fail so miserably. She had the same strength and weakness Ranma had, caring too much.

"KARMINE!" Seijuro yelled just as he barged into the restaurant, a distressed look on his face and tears running down cheeks.

"WHOA!" Karmine cried as she lost her balance and fell flat on her back. She groaned and rubbed the back of her head. "I'll get you back for this, Seijuro..."

The boy ignored his sister's threat and hugged her for dear life. "Karmine! Dad... Dad is..."

The girl blinked her eyes upon seeing Seijuro openly crying. He never cried, not even when he broke something during training. Feeling very scared she took a hold of his shoulders and held him at arm's length. "Seijuro... What happened to father?" When he teared up even more she started panicking herself.

Ukyo walked over to the pair, a sinking feeling in her stomach.

After some more prompting Seijuro finally managed to utter words that made Ukyo's heart shatter in a million pieces. Not even having him married to another woman could've hurt her so badly.

"Dad is... dead, Karmine... He's DEAD!" Seijuro cried once again and buried his head on Karmine's shoulder, sobbing his heart out.

The okonomiyaki chef felt herself leaning against a wall for support and slid down to the floor, feeling incredibly cold.

Karmine numbly sat where she was, a sobbing Seijuro holding her close, trying to understand what her little brother just said. A message that her brain just couldn't process. Saotome Ranma, her father, just couldn't be dead. Not the one man that could fight Lord Saffron, a Phoenix, and live to see another day.

That her father died was as alien a concept as the Sun not rising in the morning, or her mother quitting the guard to become a housewife.

Slowly Karmine's mind started to go through what she just heard from her brother, filtering out his sobs and Ukyo's whispers of denial. Father is... my daddy is dead? Even as she mulled it over she dared hope Seijuro was wrong. That he was somehow mistaken.

Trying to get over the shock of the news, and partly succeeding, the silver-haired girl slowly stood up. I need to make sure. She felt her heart ache as she saw Seijuro still clinging to her and placed her hand on top of his head. It was needed that she go and see what really happened to her father, but right now she had a boy that needed support. Even as her own fears ate at her she couldn't leave her brother hurting alone, her father wouldn't like that.

---

Makoto breathed heavily as she fell to one knee, taking advantage of the pause in the battle to catch her breath.

When Kuno stepped out in the yard his daughter held the hope that he would solve everything, make Kiima calm down. Instead he said something about a demon finally getting his dues. That didn't sit well with Kiima, who since then had been fighting four opponents at once. Makoto couldn't very well allow her daddy to step into battle alone, even if it was against the wife of the man Ryuu killed minutes ago.

The black-haired girl stared at Kiima with no small amount of fear in her eyes. The woman was just too good, too strong and too fast to be human. Her moves during the fast-paced battle reminded her of an old gaijin movie she once saw about something called 'Jeedai.' Whenever Kuno or Makoto attacked with their weapons she was already parrying, regardless of the fact they attacked at the same time or from different angles. Kodachi's set of tools proved to be completely ineffective, even as a distraction. And to top it off Ryuu's vacuum blades were either dodged or blocked by the woman's left HAND!

No, the battle was not going in their favor even if they held the advantage in numbers. In fact it was a sheer miracle that they had managed to keep up with her as much as they had.

Kiima stared dispassionately at the four fighters before her, studying the damage they'd already taken. Kuno had a deep sword wound on his left thigh, having been careless enough to attack with his sword over his head against an opponent much faster than he was. He didn't make that mistake again, to his credit. Kodachi sported a black eye and cut lip, as well as a broken arm from where she wasn't fast enough to dodge a kick and had to resort to blocking. Her bones snapped like twigs under the force of the impact. Ryuu was the one that was worse off, the silver-haired woman giving him special attention. He could barely keep on standing, both from the severe beating he'd been subjected to as well as the blood loss. In her eyes he was the one that should and would suffer the most.

Makoto remained untouched. Even in her current state of mind Kiima didn't lash out at the girl, a small part of her unwilling to hurt someone that young.

Eventually Kuno stood proudly and pointed his slightly bloodied katana at the silver-haired woman, out of the four he was the only one that managed to score a hit and even then it had been more of a scratch than anything else. "Stop this foolishness, woman! There is no reason for you to attack the noble house of Kuno!"

Kiima's eyes narrowed in answer to that. "No reason?" She glared at the black-haired man and Makoto shivered at the sheer amount of hatred emanating from the woman. Lord Saffron's most loyal of servants pointed with her hand at the unmoving form of Ranma, who laid dead a dozen feet away from her. "That is my husband there, landling."

Before Kuno could say something that would further anger Kiima, Ryuu opened his mouth... and did an even worse job of it. "Don't you mean 'was?" Kodachi's husband asked with a sneer.

Makoto gasped at her uncle's words just as Kiima lowered her head, her silver hair covering her eyes from them, and started to shake slightly, as if crying. The girl was about to say something, to try and remedy the situation, when the woman looked up once again and confirmed her suspicions. Kiima was crying, but she was also glaring hatefully at Ryuu.

The sight of the woman glaring at them froze Makoto on the spot, the tears that usually were thought of as a sign of weakness only served to accentuate the menace in the woman's eyes.

"I was going to slowly beat you to death, landling. You and your companions are no match for me." She ignored the snort and angry protests at her proclamation coming from Ryuu, Tatewaki and Kodachi. "However... I will deprive myself of that pleasure... if only to rid the world where my children live of your foul presence. Tonight... you and all those that oppose me in killing you... will sleep in hell!"

---

Karmine flew as fast as she could towards the Kuno mansion, secrecy about her origins be damned. Once Seijuro calmed down enough to tell them what happened Ukyo had reacted as if her life was over. Ranma's daughter, however, overcame her grief because of fear.

Unlike her brother and sister she knew exactly how Kiima and Ranma were really connected. While the pain over losing her father was great, the fear of losing her mother as well in the same day, of losing both, was even greater. She had to reach Kiima before it was too late.

The matter of knowing where she was became moot as soon as she flew over Nerima, being able to feel her mother's overbearing presence even from this far away.

Ranma and Kiima hadn't been able to teach Karmine and Seijuro stealth, mainly because their chi was so strong it was impossible to hide. Even in his sleep Ranma felt as a bonfire of chi, easily as strong as several skilled martial artists. Before today Karmine had regretted that fact, because that made her unable to learn how to hide her own chi from an earlier age. Right now, however, she was glad for it.

She just hoped to reach Kiima and that her mother would recognize her at all. The woman's chi was severely out of balance, filled with nothing but hatred and pain.

---

"Don't hurt him anymore. Please!" Makoto pleaded with Kiima as she covered her father's body with her own, fear etched on her features.

"Out of the way, landling," Kiima commanded coldly, not really caring anymore. The more time passed the least conscious thought she had.

Makoto closed her eyes and braced for what might come, fearful of going through what she saw Seijuro suffer not even an hour ago. After Kiima stopped playing around, because now Makoto recognized the previous fight as a game for the superior fighter, she downed her opponents with one move each.

Kodachi was the first to fall, after being the first to attack. Her maniacal laugh was replaced by a cry of sheer pain when Kiima effortlessly blocked a spiked club with her sword and pierced a finger into her shoulder, rendering muscle and bone as effectively as her weapon could. The Black Rose fell back in agony, both her arms useless and her mind overloaded with pain.

Kuno came in his sister's defense, and fell just as easily. The kendoist went into the attack with a mighty downwards slash. Kiima slashed upwards through both katana and Kuno alike, sending him flying several feet away in a shower of his own blood. He didn't move after it, groaning as the life escaped his abused body as surely as his blood did.

Even Sasuke was dealt with. The little ninja arrived just in time to see his master fall back in a shower of blood. His attempt at blindsiding the woman ended up with him smashed halfway through a wall, courtesy of a casual backhand.

Ryuu didn't even get the chance to let out an attack, with Kiima launching her own vacuum blade at him. He barely managed to raise his chi enough not to be cut in half. As it happened he fell to his knees and keeled over.

But Ryuu was far from defeated. He was just putting up an act for Kiima to turn her attention from him, to lower her guard, so he could strike with deadly force. His chance presented itself when he saw the silver-haired woman walk towards his downed brother-in-law. Not that he had any love for the crazed kendoist, but in defending him he'd get a good shot at Kiima, who proved to be too good for a straight-out fight.

"Don't hurt my daddy!" Makoto cried, shaking like a leaf.

"I won't say this again, girl. Out of my way," Kiima growled out, a hard glint in her eyes. It was obvious she planned on carrying out with her threat, killing the three. Kuno just happened to be closer.

The black-haired girl's eyes widened when she felt her father take a hold of her shoulders and weakly try to push her aside. Her resolve firmed at her father's obvious attempt to get her out of danger. "Don't hurt him... please..."

That gave Kiima pause. The sight of the crying girl, obviously scared and pleading for her father's life... Even now she wasn't that heartless. She wouldn't see the agony in her son's eyes reflected on another, not because of her... But this man insulted her dead husband...

Kiima's inner struggle was interrupted by twin cries of defiance and one of horror. The silver-haired woman blinked just in time to see Kuno's katana coming her way, the man bellowing, "I FIGHT ON!" She reacted just in the nick of time and deflected the deadly blade from its path with her own weapon. It was then, and only then, that Kiima realized the enormity of what was about to happen.

When Kuno saw Kiima's distraction he made his move. Throwing his daughter aside he thrust his mighty weapon forward, aiming for the woman's heart. He was disheartened when Ranma's wife effectively dealt with his attack, and his heart further sank when he heard his daughter's cry of horror. For at the same time Kuno launched his last desperate offensive Ryuu launched his own. A vacuum blade aimed for Kiima, only that on its path now stood the Steel Rose after being thrown aside.

"NO!" Kiima and Kuno cried in denial as both realized the fate that awaited the girl. In his current condition the latter wouldn't be fast enough to get his frozen daughter out of the way, while at the same time he stood in the former's path and prevented her from reaching Makoto in time.

Makoto stared stupidly at the approaching distortion in the air, knowing its significance and watching her short life pass before her eyes in the span of less than a second. She failed to comprehend what happened when she was pulled out of the way, or the cries of disbelief coming from all present, until she looked down to her waist to see why she felt a sudden wet sensation there. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Seeing a bloody stump was definitely not something she was prepared for.

Kiima's sword arm dropped to her side, the flat of her blade slapping her leg, as she stared in shock at the sight before her. A shock so great it cut through her anger instantly.

"It cannot be..." Kuno whispered as he collapsed to his knees, his strength spent.

Kodachi could do nothing but stare in wide-eyed disbelief, her niece's cry having brought her out of her pain-induced trance for a moment.

Ryuu's jaw dropped. "... But... You were dead!"

Saotome Ranma breathed heavily, a sickly wet sound emanating from his chest, as he placed the shivering girl down. She turned to look at him, no little amount of fear and... Something else in her eyes. "... You... saved me..."

Ranma shook his head to clear it of the burning pain from his injuries and a killer headache. Being woken up by a scream of terror was something he could definitely do without, especially if he suddenly found out that his right hand was missing and he had to get Kuno's daughter out of the way of a vacuum blade. "What the hell is your problem, you idiot?" He was understandably upset.

"... Ranma...?" a hesitant female voice was heard from the side and the martial artist turned to regard his wife, who walked over to him. She dropped her sword and raised her right hand to caress her husband's cheek, to convince herself that he was indeed alive.

The silver-haired woman, who only seconds before was completely concentrated on the fight and killing her husband's murderer, completely ignored everything around her. Everything but the object of her affections.

Ranma eyed his wife strangely. "Kiima... you dropped your sword..." In his experience she never parted with the weapon, or if she did there was a reverence for her blade. A silent acceptance of it as part of her being. He blinked his eyes in surprise. Were those tears? What the hell is going on?

"I don't care," Kiima said as she lowered her hand and leaned close, capturing her husband in a loving embrace. Not desperate or so tight he couldn't breathe, but gentle and relieved.

"Daddy!" Makoto cried as she knelt next to Kuno, who was starting to lose consciousness due to the seriousness of his wounds. She panicked further when he groaned something about a pigtailed goddess and passed out. "Daddy! Wake up!"

"He needs medical attention," a voice from behind startled her and Makoto turned to... gawk. Karmine stood there, just now having arrived, in all her winged glory. Her silver hair and white-feathered wings looked majestic with the rays of the Sun glinting off of them.

Upon arriving she was relieved to see that her father not only wasn't dead, but that he was actually up and about. Even if the amount of blood covering him was more than usual his chi presence was still strong. Knowing better than to interrupt a private moment between the two beings to give her life she decided to check on the others, who were obviously badly wounded. Her eyebrow twitched when she heard Kuno call her his pigtailed goddess. It would be a while before she forgot about how much grief he gave her over it when she went back in time. She didn't bash his skull in only because it seemed he really would die if she did.

Makoto snapped out of her daze and nodded frantically. "Can you help me carry him?"

Karmine leaned down and picked Kuno's unconscious form up. "I'll take him to Tofu's clinic, you help the others." And in so saying the winged girl took to the skies, leaving behind an open-mouthed Makoto. Out of the three Kuno was the one that would die for sure if not treated quickly.

Back with the embracing couple Ranma chuckled as he whipped a tear from Kiima's cheek. "I don't get to do this very often."

Kiima smiled beatifically at him. "Don't get used to it. And if you ever worry me like this again..."

The pigtailed man frowned slightly. "You're acting as if I died or something. Sure... I lost my arm... but it wasn't that bad..." he finished quietly, only just now truly realizing what he'd lost over something stupid.

The silver-haired woman stared hard at Ranma. "Your chest was cut open and your heart was stopped. That and I... and I couldn't feel your chi..."

If those words came from any other person than his wife he would've believed them an exaggeration. They did, however, and that meant he had to believe it. "I... died...? But then how...?" He looked down at his chest and, sure enough, found a rather nasty wound. It wasn't, however, anywhere near as bad as what Kiima described. He could see it mending even as he stared at it, like usual.

Kiima sighed and took a hold of Ranma's right arm at the elbow. She lifted his arm to examine the damage and shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, love." She'd seen many wounds like this during the war, and the limb was always lost.

Ranma smiled bravely, trying to act strong even if losing his arm really did shake him. "It's funny. I think I can still feel my hand." The impact of this on his martial arts would be enormous.

Kiima nodded, still staring at the bloody stump. She'd heard those very same words from crippled soldiers before, just not spoken so light-heartedly. Thanks to Ranma's incredible healing it was bleeding very little and would stop on its own... but it wouldn't grow back...

The pigtailed man suddenly felt his wife stiffen and turned his gaze to see Ryuu approaching them slowly. He was very angry with his old 'friend' for being attacked with the intent to kill, but his anger had nothing on Kiima's. "I would suggest you keep your distance, landling," she said in a tone of voice that could freeze fire. He raised an eyebrow at the nearly forgotten insult, but his stare was ignored.

Ryuu stopped walking, weakly holding his side, and stared at the couple from a safe distance. He stared at Kiima angrily, and even more angrily at the man. "So you came back..." His words were hostile as he spoke them, even if his stance was non-threatening.

No matter how much of a great man Ryuu proved he was to his wife, he always came second best. Always was only a little bit less of a man than her idolized 'Ranma-sama.' While Ryuu wasn't the most stable of men, testament to being Kodachi's guinea pig when it came to mind-altering drugs, knowing that the woman he loved would prefer someone else made his blood boil.

It didn't matter that he only now found out, after Ranma seemingly returned from death by his own hands. What mattered was that his nemesis, the only person standing between him and his lovely Black Rose rightfully recognizing him as the best for her, was back to screw things up.

Ranma recognized the hostility, he was so used to it he could even smell it now, and glared right back. "You got a problem with that?"

Ryuu growled low in his throat. "You bet I do."

"Good," Ranma sneered. He wasn't one to take crap from others, not anymore, and losing an arm because of this idiot had him wanting to finish what Kiima obviously started. "Let's get out of here," he whispered to Kiima, wanting to have some time to calm down. And most importantly to calm her down.

Ranma's wife nodded slowly. "Let us go to Kuonji's." She wanted to let her son know Ranma was alive. Her heart was starting to break at realizing how she deserted Seijuro when he needed her support so much.

"Wait!" Makoto cried from the side and they both turned to look at her. She was currently helping her aunt Kodachi to a sitting position. "What about...?" The girl trailed off and pointed to Ranma's lost arm, which laid motionless on the bloodied grass.

Kiima grit her teeth in anger, once more directing a murderous glare at Ryuu. Meanwhile Ranma sighed, let go of his wife and walked over to pick it up. He leaned down, took a hold of it with his left hand and... Froze...

Ryuu and Kiima were too busy glaring at each other to notice, but both Kodachi and Makoto saw the look of shock on Ranma's face. "... Ranma-sama...?" Kodachi asked in a whisper, seeing him slowly straighten and stare at his lost arm with that very same look of surprise on his gorgeous face.

The whisper was barely heard by Ryuu and Kiima, but either way it was like a scream to them. They both turned with a vicious glare at that, Kiima's directed at Kodachi while Ryuu's was all for Ranma.

Kodachi and her niece didn't even notice, entranced with seeing Ranma slowly take his arm and place it over his stump. Their eyes widened to mimic Ranma's when the fingers of his right hand twitched.

The moment Ranma took a hold of his arm he felt his own touch over it, the feeling only slightly dampened. After recovering from the surprise of it he slowly placed it over the rest of his arm and his eyes widened further in shock when he felt an intense pain, followed by the familiar feeling of mending wounds. His control over his own body, which was always saturated with chi, had increased his healing rate to unheard of proportions.

Yet...

Recovering a lost limb...

"... What are you?" Ryuu asked in silent awe, his anger forgotten for the moment at seeing Ranma clench his fist, his arm now back to where it belonged.

Ranma turned to look at Makoto and Kodachi, both of whom were staring at him in awe. Then at Ryuu, who was slack-jawed.

His gaze finally met with Kiima's, and her eyes reflected the same doubts and worries he was feeling at this sudden turn of events. Once upon a time he'd learned a dramatic truth about his training and the results it had on his life. Now another revelation presented itself...

He swallowed hard and answered Ryuu's question truthfully, even with a little nervousness creeping into his voice. A feeling that was shared by his wife, who was most likely in the same boat as he was.

"... I don't know..."

END PART 7

Author's notes: Did you really think I'd name a fic 'The Warrior that Returned' only to have him not return from something as insignificant as death?

Well, it's not insignificant. But I did have this planned and it'll lead to future events that have already been worked on for later chapters of the story. There is an explanation for the whole coming back from the dead and recovering an arm as well.

Just be patient and everything will be revealed... eventually.

See you in Part 7.